So about a year ago I lost 30 lbs and was feeling GREAT. I got down to 128 and right now I am at 148. I am 5'3.5" and want to get back down to atleast 135 if not a few lbs less. More than anything I just want to get my body back to where it was. I want muscle tone!!
I met my wonderful boyfriend last August and ever since I have lost my motivation to work out and we really enjoy eating out and cooking (not so healthy foods). I am starting a 5 week workout program at a local gym that starts July 16th but want to get started now.

I need advice about how to balance spending time with my boyfriend (who doesn't want to change eating habits and doesn't really need to) working out and going out on the weekends. Last time I lost the weight I completely cut out alcohol which wasn't too hard, but we really enjoy going out with our friends, so I don't want to completely cut out ALL alcohol. Any suggestions about that??

The good news is you can start with small steps. The easiest is to reduce portion sizes even when you're eating not-so-healthy food. Calories-in-calories-out isn't the only part of the equation, but it is an important part, so just cutting back on calories will help without requiring you to make any drastic changes in the food you're eating or requiring you to cook separately for yourself. This goes for alcohol too, i.e. slowly sipping 1-2 drinks a few times a week vs guzzling 3-4 every other day.

The news you might not want to hear is that it's going to take some discipline on your part. You'll be tempted to get up for seconds when everyone else does or pile the food on your plate but you'll have to make the extra effort not to if you want to keep the pounds off. A trick I like to use is simply eating from a smaller-size plate. It tricks your brain into thinking you ate more, even when you haven't!

Disclaimer: I'm not professionally qualified to make any formal recommendations. I've just done my homework and I'm my own guinea pig. All of my data, unless otherwise cited, comes from a sample size of n=1 (me).